Cadillac aims to enter F1 with Andretti Autosport from 2026
Will the cars be pink?
The American racing team Andretti Autosport and the car-making giant General Motors have announced a partnership with the stated aim of fielding a team in Formula 1 by 2026.
The deal would see General Motors represented by the Cadillac brand in the event of a successful bid, which would be subject to the approval of motorsport’s global governing body, the FIA, as well as F1 itself.
Andretti Autosport is a huge name in global motorsport, competing over the years in sports as diverse as Extreme E, IndyCar, Formula E, rallycross and endurance racing; the firm is headed by Michael Andretti, an ex-racer and the son of 1978 F1 world champion, Mario Andretti.
The announcement of Andretti and Cadillac’s joint bid to become the 11th team on the F1 grid comes days after the FIA’s president, Mohammed bin Sulayem, called for more entries to the sport.
It is understood that any entry by Andretti-Cadillac Racing (as the team is set to be known) would take place no earlier than 2026, a year that will see the introduction of significant technical changes to cars on the grid including, among other things, plans to run the engines using synthetic low-carbon fuels.
The team will be based in Andretti’s home state of Indiana in the United States, with a support facility in the UK.
It is also understood that initially the team will buy in an engine from an outside manufacturer; Cadillac will serve as the team’s chief engineering partner, possibly developing its own engine down the line.
This isn’t the first time Andretti has attempted to enter F1 in recent years.
In 2021 the team launched an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Swiss Sauber team (most recently racing under the Alfa Romeo banner). The bid fell through, primarily due to resistance from other F1 teams, which felt that the addition of an 11th team to the grid would dilute their revenues; Sauber has since been bought by Audi, also with the goal of entering F1 in the coming years.
“One of the big things was: ‘What does Andretti bring to the party?’” said Michael Andretti, speaking at a press conference on Thursday (January 5).
“Well, we’re bringing one of the biggest manufacturers in the world now with General Motors and Cadillac.
“We feel that that was the one box we didn’t have checked that we do have checked now. We’ve put in a tremendous amount of support to F1 and it’s hard for anyone to argue that now.”
The initial reaction from the FIA appeared positive with a statement from Mohammed bin Sulayem welcoming the bid.
“Today’s news from the United States is further proof of the popularity and growth of the FIA Formula One World Championship under the FIA’s stewardship,” he said.
“It is particularly pleasing to have interest from two iconic brands such as General Motors Cadillac and Andretti Global.”
Cadillac F1 entry still to be confirmed
He cautioned, however, that Andretti-Cadillac’s F1 entry wasn’t yet a done deal.
“Any additional entries would build on the positive acceptance of the FIA’s 2026 PU [power unit] regulations among OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] which has already attracted an entry from Audi.
“Any Expressions of Interest process will follow strict FIA protocol and will take several months.”
F1 itself was more non-committal than bin Sulayem, however.
“There is great interest in the F1 project at this time with a number of conversations continuing that are not as visible as others,” Formula One group, which is owned by American company Liberty Media, said in a statement.
“We all want to ensure the championship remains credible and stable and any new entrant request will be assessed on criteria to meet those objectives by the relevant stakeholders.”
Driver speculation
Andretti-Cadillac’s potential entry into F1 also prompts the questions as to whom the team could field as drivers.
Though an entry is still some years away, the current odds-on favourite appears to be the 22-year-old American IndyCar driver Colton Herta.
Herta currently drives for Andretti’s IndyCar team and has previously stated F1 aspirations, only missing out on a seat with the AlphaTauri team in 2023 because he did not have sufficient licence points to qualify.
Andretti has said that it wants at least one American driver in its team.
While Cadillac may be better known for large luxury cars with soft suspensions, the firm has a long history of involvement with motorsport stretching back to the pre-war period.
Since the early 2000s, the team has been competing on and off in saloon car and endurance prototype racing including in the American Le Mans Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The firm plans to campaign its new V-LMDh car in the 2023 World Endurance Championship under the Chip Ganassi Racing flag that will see it competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June as part of the new Le Mans Daytona Hybrid category.
“We have a long, rich history in motorsports and engineering innovation, and we are thrilled with the prospect of pairing with Andretti Global to form an American F1 team that will help spur even more global interest in the series and the sport,” said Cadillac chairman, Mark Reuss.
“Cadillac and F1 both have growing global appeal. Our brand has a motorsports pedigree that’s more than a century in the making, and we would be proud to have the opportunity to bring our distinct American innovation and design to F1.”
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